Chinese Willing to Pay More for Made-in-USA Goods

A new study finds Americans aren’t the only ones willing to pay more for U.S.-made products. The Chinese are too.

Bloomberg News

In a survey conducted by the Boston Consulting Group, 47% of Chinese said they either “absolutely” or “somewhat” favored U.S.-made options when confronted with a choice between two items of equal price and quality — one domestic, the other Made in the USA. Over half said they’d chosen U.S.-made goods over less expensive Chinese products in the last month, with 61% saying they’re willing to pay more for the U.S. made goods — in some cases quite a bit more.

Willingness to splurge on U.S. imports varied depending on the product. Some were obvious choices. For instance, many Chinese — mindful of scandals involving food contamination — were willing to pay more for U.S.-made baby food. But other choices were more surprising: The Chinese were also willing to pay big premiums for U.S. made running shoes and mobile phones.

The study showed Americans are even more gung ho about U.S. made goods than the Chinese. Nearly 80% of Americans said they either “absolutely” or “somewhat” favored domestic goods over those made in China and 70% said they have picked U.S.-made goods over Chinese in the last month. Of course, Americans are notorious for saying they prefer U.S. goods, then opting for the bargain at the mall regardless of its origins.

Harold Sirkin, a senior partner with BCG and one of the authors of the study, said they sought to avoid that problem by asking the survey questions in four different ways. “We used a more advanced survey technique to make sure we got an accurate picture,” says Mr. Sirkin.

Mr. Sirkin says the main message in the report is that there’s a “significant propensity of U.S. customers to pay a premium for U.S.-made goods.” This carries implications for retailers and manufacturers, who have pushed in recent years to buy more goods from overseas — especially China — because of their lower prices.

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